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October 28
1950s-1960s *1953 - Red Barber resigns from the Brooklyn Dodgers broadcast booth and takes a job with the rival New York Yankees. *1954 - MLB owners vote down the sale of the Philadelphia Athletics to a hometown syndicate. A week later, Arnold Johnson buys a controlling interest in the Athletics from the Mack family for $3.5 million and moves the team to Kansas City. *1958 - In San Francisco, construction began on the new ballpark for the Giants. The rocks in the area resembled candlesticks. *1961 - Workers break ground on a new ballpark in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Shea Stadium will become the home of the expansion New York Mets in 1964. *1968 - Future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals wins his first Cy Young Award. Gibson is a unanimous choice after dominating hitters with a 22-9 record and an ERA of 1.12 during the “Year of the Pitcher.” 1970s-1990s *1979 - The New York Yankees replaced fired manager Billy Martin with Dick Howser, the head coach of the Florida State Seminoles. In 1980, Howser will lead the Yankees to 103 victories. *1981 - Behind solid pitching of Burt Hooton, the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a World Series comeback defeating the New York Yankees, 9–2. The Dodgers had trailed the Series two games to none before bouncing back to win four straight games. Pedro Guerrero drove in five runs for Los Angeles, who avenged two six-game World Series defeats to the Yankees in 1977 and 1978. It was the third time this post season Los Angeles come from behind to win a series (0-2 behind Houston in the NLDS and 1-2 behind the Expos in NLCS). Guerrero, Ron Cey and Steve Yeager shared the Series MVP Award. *1988 - San Diego trade Keith Moreland and Chris Brown to the Tigers for pitcher Walt Terrell. *1989 - The Oakland Athletics completed a sweep in the World Series with a 9–6 win over the San Francisco Giants. Rickey Henderson’s home run supports starter and winner Mike Moore. Dave Stewart is named Series MVP after winning the first and third game of the Series, which was delayed by an earthquake. *1995 - The Braves won their first World Series since moving to Atlanta with a 1–0 shutout over Cleveland in Game Six. Pitchers Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers combined on a one-hitter and David Justice hit a home run in the sixth inning for the only run. Dennis Martínez was the losing pitcher. 2000s *2001: **In the World Series, Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitched a three-hit shutout to defeat the Yankees, 4-0, taking a 2-0 advantage in the Series. Matt Williams became the first player in World Series history to hit home runs with three different teams. He homered in the Fall Classic for the Indians in 1997 and the Giants in 1989. **Curt Schilling, who name his son Gehrig, receives the Roberto Clemente Award for his contributions to numerous charities, including ALS, which is better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher, who won World Series opener yesterday, was selected due his outstanding baseball skills combined with devoted work within the community. *2002: **The New York Mets, after being unable to get permission to talk to manager Lou Piniella from Seattle, and deciding not to wait ten days after World Series for the availability of San Francisco skipper Dusty Baker, give Art Howe a four-year, $9.4 million deal to manage the team. Howe managed the Oakland Athletics to two AL West titles (2000, 2002) championships with his teams winning 383 games during the last four seasons matching Joe Torre's total for the Yankees. A day later, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will name Piniella as their team's new skipper, signing him a four-year contract. As compensation to sign Piniella away from Seattle, Tampa Bay sends their All-Star outfielder Randy Winn (.298 BA, 14 HR, 75 RBI) to Seattle for minor leaguer Antonio Pérez. **The Florida Marlins do not renew the contract of John Routh, the 43-year-old man who has been known as "Billy the Marlin", since the Florida's first game in 1993. Although 'Billy' will return next season, a new person will be hired to wear the 35-pound costume as the team is seeks to increase the mascot's visibility by changing the overall role of the character. Births *1863 - Tommy Tucker, infielder (d. 1935) *1879 - Frank Smith, pitcher (d. 1952) *1917 - Joe Page, All-Star pitcher (d. 1980) *1935 - Bob Veale, All-Star pitcher *1954 - Sammy Stewart, pitcher *1961 - Bob Melvin, player and manager *1964 - Lenny Harris, infielder *1966 - Juan Guzmán, All-Star pitcher *1969 - Kirk Bullinger, pitcher *1974 - Braden Looper, pitcher *1977 - Chin-Feng Chen, outfielder *1981 - Nate McLouth, outfielder *1982 - Jeremy Bonderman, pitcher *1982 - Anthony Lerew, pitcher Deaths *1965 - Walter Barbare, infielder (b. 1891) *1983 - Ray Sanders, infielder (b. 1916) *1993 - Cal Koonce, pitcher (b. 1940)